I said I wasn’t going to do a newsletter this week. This isn’t really a newsletter. This is a clips show.
A lot of friends assume, that because I’m from Ohio, I’m really super very totally all that excited about the big game.
I’m not really.
As I told paid subscribers in last week’s Addendum, I’m not from that Ohio. I’m from one of the other Ohios. There are several. Plus, I was born in Boston. It’s complicated.
I did live in that Ohio for a while and I’m really excited for all my friends from that Ohio who’re really excited about The Game. And they are. Really excited that is. Some of them are also from that Ohio.
So this week’s newsletter is a collection of recipes I’ve shared in the past (including one from my other project The Chicken Thigh Guy) that … well, would make great game day snacks, couch meals, countertop or card table buffets. Call it fandom, indoor tailgating, sport-focused-hibernation, or Sunday night. But out of respect for the fans, please don’t make fun of the Chili. Not until later.
Horseradish & Sauerkraut Cheese Dip
This recipe originally appeared in the October 19, 2121 edition of The Weekly Menu.
One of the most commented on recipes I’ve ever posted on The Weekly Menu was for one of Ohio’s more unique foods – sauerkraut balls. They sound like a kid’s gross-out joke, but the tasty fried little balls of cheese, kraut, and sausage are amazing. Plus, they really go well with a tooth shatteringly cold beer. This dip is an ode to those flavors – minus the sausage, and minus the fried. Think of it as sauerkraut ball dip if you want.
When I was putting together the rough plan for this recipe, I’d planned on including a recipe for classic gigantic soft pretzels because I love soft pretzels.
The problem is, I’m terrible at making them. I’d like to claim that my giant bear paws masquerading as hands just don’t have the dexterity to shape them properly, but I’m fairly certain it's more that I don’t have the patience to shape them properly. So, I leave you to your own devices in procuring some sort of bread product that accompany this slightly sour, slightly spicy, very cheesy dip. I went with store bought frozen soft pretzel sticks and they were pretty damned delicious and didn’t look at all like pale, mangled knots of under proofed dough. You could also go with pretzel chips or good black bread like pumpernickel.
8 oz cream cheese
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1 cup sauerkraut
2 tbsp prepared horseradish
1 tsp granulated sugar
½ tsp fresh ground white pepper
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Squeeze as much liquid from the sauerkraut as possible, then mince it finely.
Using a wooden spoon or a spatula, cream together the cream cheese, sauerkraut, horseradish, sugar, and white pepper.
Spread this mixture in a large ramekin or gratin pan, and top with breadcrumbs.
Bake until the breadcrumb topping is browned, and the mixture is bubbling hot – about 20 minutes.
Serve hot with soft pretzels, or black bread.
Buffalo Chicken Bites
This recipe originally appeared on The Chicken Thigh Guy - my other food related project.
I love chicken wings. I mean love. Unconditionally. Even bad chicken wings, while disappointing, are still chicken wings, and I love them. When good, they’re almost transcendent: crispy skin or coating, rich, juicy and tender meat, piquant sauces – seet, spicy, sour – all hing conveniently on the bone to make them easy – if incredibly messy – to eat.
I’ve tried almost every imaginable kind of wing, from the barebones traditional, to slow confited fine dining versions, with everything in between. I still keep coming back to a pretty traditional preparation. A simple wing, very lightly coated, tossed in the traditional blend of butter and vinegary pepper sauce. Orange, vinegary, spicy, messy heaven.
I will admit, I hate the term ‘boneless wings’ because they are not. They are not wings. It doesn’t mean they aren’t delicious, but they’re just not wings. So here, we will call them what they are: Buffalo chicken bites. Crisp, saucy morsels of bright orange, spicy chicken accompanied by celery and blue cheese dressing – the perfect game day or party night snack.
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
½ cup buttermilk
1 clove garlic
1 tsp fresh or dry dill weed
1 ½ cup AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tbsp kosher salt, divided
4 tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup Frank’s RedHot or similar sauce
Blue Cheese Dressing (below) and Celery Sticks for garnish
Cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces.
Peel and mince or microplane the garlic.
In a non-reactive bowl, mix buttermilk, garlic, 2 tbsp of salt, dill weed, and 1 tsp ground black pepper.
Add the chicken. Cover, and refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1 tbsp kosher salt and 1 tsp ground black pepper in a dry container with a tight-fitting lid.
Working in batches, add pieces of chicken to the breading and shake well to coat.
Place the chicken on a rack on set on a sheet pan into the refrigerator to hydrate for 30 minutes.
Again, working in batches, return the chicken to the breading mixture, tossing to coat and build up a slightly thicker crust.
Return to the rack and allow to hydrate for 10-15 minutes or while the fryer heats up.
Prepare a fryer or stovetop fryer setup with neutral oil at 350°. Fry chicken in batches until well browned and internal temperature of any larger pieces has reached 165°.
For the sauce, melt 4 tbsp of unsalted butter in ½ cup of Frank’s RedHot, whisking to combine. Add additional cayenne pepper if you prefer a spicier sauce.
Toss finished chicken pieces with sauce and serve with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.
Simple Blue Cheese Dressing
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup Greek yogurt
1 tsp chopped, fresh dill
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
½ tsp ground black pepper
Salt to taste
Mix all ingredients well in a non-reactive bowl. Rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to help set and to allow flavors to combine.
Cincinnati Chili
This recipe originally appeared in The Weekly Menu on October 20, 2020.
Cincinnati style chili gets a bad rep, mostly from people who’ve never actually tried it. The chili purists complain about the pasta, the inclusion of cinnamon, the pasta again, and the chocolate. At this point, if you’re not from Ohio you’re probably wondering what the hell I’m talking about. Chili over spaghetti? Chocolate and cinnamon? Yeah. There’s chocolate and cinnamon in it. And yeah, it’s traditionally served over spaghetti noodles – often and best cooked to within an inch of their life.
Oh, and it’s amazingly delicious. Even more so ladled out of a crock pot on a cold, rainy November day, football on TV in the background, and a pile of oyster crackers alongside to soak up the sauce left at the bottom of your bowl.
It’s best not to think of Cincinnati chili as “chili.” It’s a meat sauce – and an unusual one at that. The first purveyors of the dish were Macedonian immigrants – and the dish is still sometimes called Greek Chili in and around Cincinnati. The seasoning and flavors are more those of their homeland than of Mexico or the American Southwest. I think of it more as a simplified and bastardized pasta moussaka – with the pillows of shredded cheese standing in for the classic Bechamel.
In Cincinnati everyone who like chili is a chili partisan. There are numerous chili parlours and every Cincinnatian (and northern Kentuckian, and people who drove down from Columbus or Dayton, and probably a fair portion of Indiana too) has a strongly held opinion about which is best. This recipe can’t compete with that - but it’s a good home equivalent.
This recipe uses a technique that may seem like an anathema to most home cooks. Instead of browning the beef and aromatics, as we’re taught to do in nearly every recipe, the ground meat here is mixed into a slurry (this helps give it the fine texture) and everything else is essentially sloshed in to simmer away and blend. It’s fast, and the method a lot of commercial kitchens use. Also, somehow it’s the right thing for this dish.
Serves 4
2 hours 30 mins, 30 mins active
1 lb lean ground beef
1 can (14 oz) peeled diced tomatoes
2 cups cold water
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp chili powder*
1 tbsp cider vinegar
¼ tsp thyme
¼ tsp dried rosemary leaves
¼ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cocoa powder or 2 tsp finely chopped dark chocolate
1 tsp kosher salt
1 lb uncooked spaghetti noodles
1 cup cooked red kidney beans
2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese (traditionally bright orange, but i’m partial to Cabot sharp white)
Add two cups of water to a pan, off the heat.
Add the ground beef to the water and stir well to break up into very small pieces.
Add 1 tsp salt to the beef mixture, and place over a low flame/heat mark.
Peel, trim, and coarsely chop ½ the onion – dice and reserve the remaining half for garnish.
Peel the garlic.
Place the onion, tomato, garlic, vinegar, chocolate or cocoa, and spices in the container of a blender, and blend on high until smooth.
Add the tomato mixture to the beef mixture, stirring to combine.
Cook at a low simmer for 2 hours.
If needed, thicken slightly with a slurry of 1 tsp flour to 1 tbsp water.
Cook the spaghetti according to package directions but boil for an additional 2 minutes. The pasta should be very soft, not “al dente.”
To serve:
3-way: Top spaghetti with the meat sauce, and a pile of shredded cheese.
5-way: Top spaghetti with meat sauce, beans, diced onions, and a pile of shredded cheese.
Chicken Wings with Fish Sauce Caramel
This recipe originally appeared in June 2021 in a menu called “Salty, Sweet, Spicy, Summer.” which for some reason has an absurd typo in the original URL.
I’ve been clear and honest about my love for chicken wings. If I go more than a few weeks without a wing centered meal, I start thinking about chicken wings when It’s probably not appropriate to be thinking about chicken wings. Sitting on my bike at a stoplight on the way to work? Chicken wings. Staring at the ceiling at night trying to fall asleep? Chicken wings. You get it. I really like chicken wings.
These chicken wings, or variations on them, have become a favorite of mine over the past few years. They’re inspired by the fish sauce wings I first had at Andy Richter’s Pok Pok years ago – but, not really a “version” of those. Pok Pok’s wings involved a process of garlic brining and a number of other steps. I simply dress wings in a modified fish sauce caramel. Don’t laugh. I know that “fish sauce caramel” sounds like a 10-year old’s grossout joke, but dark sweet sugar, spices, and the deep umami of the fish sauce makes it one of the world’s great sauces and it is a perfect accompaniment to crispy slightly fatty chicken wings.
12 whole chicken wings
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 2-inch piece of ginger
4 cloves garlic
2 star anise pods
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp sriracha
Oil for frying
Crushed peanuts and sliced green onion for garnish
Arrange the wings on a sheet pan lined with a rack and refrigerate uncovered for at least 1 hour and up to overnight. This will help dry out the skin and produce crispier wings.
Add ½ cup of sugar to a dry pan over medium heat.
Cook until the sugar is melted and has turned a dark caramel color.
Add 1 cup of water and bring to a simmer.
Add the star anise, the cinnamon, the peppercorns, and ginger and cook uncovered at a low simmer for 30 minutes.
Strain out the solids and discard them, return the liquid to the pan.
Stir in the fish sauce and the sriracha.
Allow to simmer until reduced to ~1/2 cup.
Peel, trim, and finely mince the garlic.
Remove the sauce from the heat and add the garlic.
Prepare your fryer, a Dutch oven, or other large pan with oil and fry the wings at 350°F until very crisp.
Toss with the sauce to coat and garnish with crushed peanuts and sliced green onion.
Buttermilk Brined Fried Chicken
This recipe is from June 1,2021’s “The Picnic” edition of The Weekly Menu.
The great thing about fried chicken as a picnic dish is that it’s great hot, great warm, and great cold. There aren’t many dishes for which that’s true, and it really makes it a perfect item. You can enjoy it at the table, in the yard, or miles from home and while each is a different experience, they’re all Fried Chicken. I mean, who doesn’t love fried chicken?
This recipe is a straightforward buttermilk brined chicken. I include a lot of garlic and some spices in the brine to impart more flavor to the meat itself – and up to 48 hours marinating really gives you tender flavorful chicken. Then, I add a substantial portion of cornstarch to the breading. Corn starch fries up to an exceptionally crisp crust – which means this chicken can stay crispy even a few hours after frying.
1 small frying chicken, cut up
Oil for frying
Buttermilk Brine
2 cups cultured buttermilk
4 cloves garlic
1 green onion
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp red pepper flake
1 tsp smoked paprika
Chicken Breading
1 ½ cups AP Flour
½ cup corn starch
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp finely ground black pepper
½ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp rubbed sage
Add buttermilk, garlic, green onion, red pepper flake, 1 tbsp kosher salt, and 1 tsp smoked paprika to the container of a blender and process until smooth.
Add the chicken and the contents of a blender to a large zip top bag, squeeze out the air, and close.
Allow the chicken to marinate at least 8 and up to 48 hours, turning occasionally.
Add AP flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp kosher salt, baking powder, finely ground black pepper, thyme, and sage to a large container and use a whisk to stir into a homogonous mixture.
Working in small batches, remove the chicken from the marinade and dip into the breading mixture. Shake to ensure that the breading coats the chicken evenly.
Place the breaded chicken on a rack and allow to rest uncovered in the refrigerator at least 1 hour to allow the breading to hydrate.
Heat your frying oil (I use a mixture of vegetable oil and lard or shortening) to 350° F
Fry the chicken in batches until golden brown, and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the piece reads 165°F.